For the last two years, Mahipal Singh had been posted as the personal security officer to Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant Sharma in Gurgaon. This afternoon, police say, he made a chilling phone call to his employer: "I have shot your wife and son".

Just minutes before the call, Mahipal Singh had opened fire at a busy market in Gurgaon's Sector 49. His targets were 38-year-old Ritu and her 18-year-old son, Dhruv, who he had driven there for shopping.

The mother and son are in hospital, where Dhruv's condition, reportedly, is critical.

Mahipal Singh, who drove away after the shooting in the judge's Honda City, was arrested later and is being interrogated. The police, who are trying to determine the reason for the shooting, say the accused is suffering from acute depression and was mentally disturbed.

"An Additional Sessions Judge's wife and son were shot at. They have been admitted and the doctors have taken them for a procedure," said Sulochna Gajraj, DCP Gurgaon (East).